Many golfers, in spite of practice, remain inconsistent in their putting game. A common mistake some of the golfers make in their putting game is to strike the golf ball with the head of the putter while the velocity of the putter head is decelerating rather than accelerating. This deceleration generally results in uneven putting strokes because the amount of initial acceleration and subsequent deceleration of the putting head is difficult to control.
A better method of putting is termed accelerated putting. In accelerated putting the ball is struck while the velocity of the putter head is increasing, i.e., the putter head is accelerating. In this type of putting the golfer is required to learn only a single acceleration motion of the putter which is applicable to any length of putter. This acceleration motion is retained, with repetition, as part of the golfer's muscle memory. The distance the ball travels is then determined by the amount of backswing of the putter head. As the backswing is increased, the pre-contact time of the club head, i.e., the time from the beginning of the swing until the ball is struck, also increases, and therefore the velocity of the club head is greater when it strikes the ball than it would be for a shorter backswing.
A second common mistake of some golfers is to stroke the ball with a putter head that is not traveling along the intended path of the golf ball. That is, the golfer does not swing the putter along the same line as the intended path of the ball, but rather in a path that is oblique to the intended path of the ball. Such a stroke causes the golf ball to deviate from the intended travel path.
A third common mistake of some golfers is to stroke the golf ball with the putter head at an oblique angle to the intended path of the golf ball, rather than perpendicular to the intended path. This oblique angle causes the golf ball to deviate from the intended travel path of the golf ball.
It can be appreciated that a golf putting teaching aid which aids golfers in establishing the proper method of accelerated putting, including the proper path of the putter head and the proper orientation of putter head with respect to the golf ball, is desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,912 describes a golf putting teaching aid for use in establishing the proper method of accelerated putting. The teaching aid described therein, however, requires a movable, ruler-like apparatus (called a stroke length ruler) locatable along an edge of the putting surface. The stroke length ruler has marks thereon for aligning the stroke length ruler with squaring lines located on the putting surface and for indicating the proper length of the back swing for each of the squaring lines. The stroke length ruler costs money to fabricate and is inconvenient to use because it must be repositioned whenever the golfer wishes to practice putts from a different distance from the cup.
It is desirable, therefore, that a golf putting teaching aid useful for teaching accelerated putting not require use of a movable stroke length ruler, such as that which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,912.